INSECTS. 
99 
THE BOLL-WORM. 
( Heliothes ?) 
The egg of the boll-worm moth (PI. IX. fig. 4) is generally de- 
posited on the outside of the involucel, or outer calyx of the flower, 
and I have taken it from the outer calyx even of the young boll it- 
self. It has been stated that the egg is laid upon the stem, which 
also forms the first food of the young worm ; but, after a thorough 
and careful examination of several hundred stems, I found only one 
egg in this situation, and that, from its being upon its side instead 
of its base, had evidently been misplaced, and never hatched. 
The egg of the boll-worm is laid singly upon the involucel, about 
twilight, and is of a somewhat oval shape, rather flattened at the top 
and bottom, and is formed with ridges on the side which meet at the 
top in one common centre. The color is yellowish until nearly 
hatched, when it becomes darker, the young enclosed caterpillar 
showing through the translucent shell. A single' boll-worm moth, 
dissected by Dr. John Gamble, of Tallahassee, contained at least five 
hundred eggs, which differed much from those of the cotton-caterpillar 
moth, which are round and flattened like a turnip, of a beautiful 
green color, and scarcely to be distinguished from the leaf on which 
they are deposited. The eggs of the boll-worm moth hatched in 
three or four days after being brought in from the field, and the 
young worms soon commenced feeding upon the parenchyma, or ten- 
der fleshy substance of the calyx, on the outside, near where the egg 
was laid. When they had gained strength, they pierced through the 
outer calyx, some through the petals into the enclosed flower-bud, 
while others penetrated the boll itself. Sometimes the pistil and 
stamens are found to be distorted and discolored, which is caused by 
the young worm, when inside the bud, eating the stamens and injur- 
ing the pistil, so that it is drawn over to one side. When this is the 
case, the young worm bores through the bottom of the flower, into 
the young boll, before the old corolla, pistil, and stamens fall off, 
leaving the young boll, inner calyx, and outer calyx, or involucel, 
still adhering to the foot-stalk, with the young worm safe in the 
growing boll. 
The number of buds destroyed by this worm is very great, as they 
fall off when quite young, and are scarcely observed as they lie, 
brown and withering, on the ground. The instinct of the caterpillar, 
however, teaches it to forsake a bud or boll about to tall, and either 
to seek another, or to fasten itself to a leaf, on which it remains until 
the skin is shed ; it then attacks another bud or boll in a similar man- 
ner, until, at length, it acquires size and strength sufficient to enable 
it to bore into the nearly-matured bolls, which are entirely destroyed 
by its punctures; for, if the interior is not devoured, the rain pene- 
trates the boll, and the cotton soon becomes rotten and of no value. 
The rotted bolls serve also for food and shelter to numerous small 
insects, such as those already mentioned, and which have been errone- 
ously accused of causing the rot. Whenever a young boll or bud is 
seen with the involucre, or outer calyx, called by some the “ruffle,” 
